Pavlo Lazarenko

ON BEHALF OF NICOLAZZO and ASSOCIATES, MR. PAVLO LAZARENKO, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE, TELLS U.S. IMMIGRATION JUDGE HE IS IN DANGER OF TORTURE IF RETURNED TO HIS NATIVE COUNTRY Appeal Made During Full Day of Testimony San Francisco, April 14 - Mr. Pavlo Lazarenko, former Prime Minister of Ukraine who is fighting to bring about gradual reform leading to an improved economic climate in his native country, told a U.S. immigration judge Monday that if he is forced to return to Ukraine he could be tortured and possibly killed. Mr. Lazarenko, who reportedly survived an assassination attempt in Ukraine in 1996, appeared with his legal counsel during a full day of testimony. Mr. Lazarenko has been detained in a Federal Detention Centre by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) while seeking political asylum. In a statement, Mr. Lazarenko said: ''On Monday, April 12, 1999, I asked the court to defer my removal back to Ukraine under the provisions of the International Convention Against Torture. The court has heard evidence that I could be subjected to torture if I am deported to Ukraine. A large number of reports by international and non- governmental organisations of cases of torture and violence committed by Ukrainian officials causing suffering, bodily injury and, in a number of cases, death have been submitted to the court. The widespread use of torture in the Ukrainian penitentiary system has been confirmed by a United States Department of State report issued February 26, 1999. ''I am particularly concerned that my status as a high-profile political opponent to President Kuchma will expose me to intense physical and psychological coercion and that my human rights will be abused. ''As I have said on past occasions, I remain confident that once U.S. officials have a clear understanding of the facts in this matter, they will grant my request to remain in this country. Those that continue to spread false rumours about me in Ukraine are the same forces that have attempted to discredit me and my political party. I will not let these reports go unchallenged, and I remain a candidate for the October elections. ''Since my departure from Ukraine, Kuchma's investigators have engaged in illegal and abusive harassment of my relatives.My home and office in Ukraine have been raided and ransacked several times, and my property has been seized in violation of my rights of due process. ''I want to again tell my many supporters in Ukraine, the Ukrainian community around the world, and the American public that the warrant for my arrest issued by Ukrainian prosecutors is totally without substance. I am a victim of political persecution by the Government of President Leonid Kuchma. Criminal investigations in Ukraine are part of a systematic, politically motivated plot to repress opposition. ''In fact, the Kuchma regime, in its continuing crackdown on opposition parties, has shut down a number of news media outlets in Ukraine and has imprisoned opposition leaders. This further demonstrates how Kuchma is consolidating his power and orchestrating a campaign to discredit anyone who opposes him. I will not be intimidated by such tactics.'' Contact: Richard P. Crane, Jr., Esq. of Musick Peeler and Garrett, LLP, 001 213-629-7600, or Richard E. Nicolazzo or Joe M. Grillo of Nicolazzo and Associates, 001 617-951-0000